Just Beginning
by mrspencilcase
Summary: Max and the rest of the Flock are practically starting life over after destroying Itex. Further adventures are sure to come. R & R please! FAX. Chapter 7 up!
1. New Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That's James Patterson's job**

**A/N: After you have read this, whether you like it or you don't, please review so I know how to make it better or just to see whether you did like it or just plain hated it **

I dropped like a rock, my head in searing pain. My wings folded themselves together, and it was like I just couldn't stop. I held my head in my hands, waiting for death to come. I bet it would feel good right now. And then the Voice interrupted me: _You know you don't want to die_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked into Nudge's and Angel's room to see that they were both already up, quietly talking to one another. I leaned myself against the door frame until I knew Angel could read my thoughts and know I was there. She turned her head my way and smiled.

"Max!" she cried, and jumped off Nudge's bed, just to gather me in a hug. As much as she was my favorite, I just couldn't handle a hug every moment, especially when my body was still sore from the bomb at Itex. Then, as quickly as she had come, Angel backed off and sat on the bed again, almost sitting on Nudge. "Sorry. I should have known you were still hurting."

I laughed lightly and started to turn away. "Its okay, honey. Why don't you come to that tiny kitchenette thing for breakfast? Iggy should be up soon, and if he isn't, don't expect a wonderful breakfast meal." I laughed again and started down the rest of the motel's hallway.

After the explosion at Itex, the six of us – me, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel – have once again been on the run, but lately, for a couple days, we've been resting up at this motel. And, luckily, my Voice hasn't been interrupting me as much lately. Sometimes, I felt a little lonely since it usually talks all the time.

Before I reached the Gasman's bedroom, Total came and barked at my feet. I rubbed my hand along his head and knocked on Gazzy's door. "Mmmm," he groaned, louder than I had expected. I opened the door a couple inches and peeked my head in to see him just getting out of bed. I guess I woke him up.

"C'mon, Gaz. Get up. Breakfast and then we're leaving." I closed the door again and strolled into the tiny kitchenette. Fang and Iggy were already up, I saw, and as I walked in, Total – Angel's small, talking dog – gave Fang a great lick on his cheek. I laughed at Fang's face and sank myself down into the overly, comfortable couch in front of the old television.

"Thanks, laugh at the wounded, winged kid." Fang dropped Total back onto the carpet and stood up from the kitchen table.

"You're not wounded," growled Iggy as he took out the container of eggs from the refrigerator. It was weird how the blind kid could cook better than I could. At that moment when Iggy turned on the gas stove, Nudge, Angel, and the Gasman padded into the living room, plopping down onto the couch all around me. I bet they could just feel how uncomfortable this was, all four of us squished onto the couch. I stood up and walked toward the motel doorway.

I sighed and turned to Fang. "Um, I'm going to go out for a fly," I said, a little quicker than I meant to. "If anything happens while I'm gone, come for me okay?" I gave him a quick smile and then headed out of the door.

Once outside, I did a quick 360 to make sure that no one was watching me, then I took off, glad to feel the air under my wings. I flew higher and higher until I was above the white-blue clouds. I got a little wet as I flew up, but up this high, it didn't matter.

_Glad you're having fun, Max. _Great, my Voice was back. _Of course I'm back, Max. It's not like I'm going to leave you._

_Why not?_

_I'm here to help you, Max. Just listen to me. That's why I'm here._

But now I just couldn't stand the Voice any more. I swooped down below the fluffy clouds and stumbled onto the beach. I knew I told Fang I wouldn't do this, but once again I found the sharpest rock I could find. If Fang came now, I bet he would be furious. But I would be too. Its just that… I just _knew_ that the Voice was coming from the chip, and I wanted it out, out, _out_!

The first swipe of the rock on my skin only brought blood and tears. And then in the next cut I knew I had cut something that shouldn't have been cut; maybe a muscle, or a tendon. But I didn't care. That chip – and the voice – needed to go.

Another swipe of the rock, then another, until I was so surrounded by blood I was sure I was going to faint soon, either from how gory this all looked or from blood loss. And then something swooped down below next to me, and gathered me in his arms. Fang.

By what he was doing, I could tell that he wasn't worried about all the blood covering him, just by what I was doing. A moment later, before he was completely covered with my blood, he dumped things out of his pockets: gauze, band-aids, lotions, antiseptic, a sling. He took care of the deep gash – deeper than even last time I had done this – until it was stinging so much that it didn't feel like it was feeling any better.

When Fang was finished, he gathered me in his arms again. I looked up into his face to see that it was ghost white, proving how much I had scared him. But he pressed my head against his chest again, pulling my closer to him.

A couple minutes later, Fang finally let go and looked down at all the blood that had rained onto the sand. His face was still the whitest I had ever seen it. Then he sat himself down onto sand, pulling his knees up to his chin and pulling me down with him. Although I knew he was now looking at me, I looked down onto the sand.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled into my own knees. "I know I had promised not to do that, but I did it anyway." I could feel the tears start to leak from my eyes, almost blinding me against anything else.

"Again you scared me, Max." He skipped a stone across the sand, not even reaching the water of the river we were by. "Why?" He looked at me again and this time, I looked back.

"The Voice. It was bugging me again; I just couldn't take it." The tears down my face were growing even stronger as I talked. Fang wiped a few across my cheeks with his thumb, grabbing and turning my shoulders so I was facing him more.

"You know you can talk to me about it."

I sighed. I knew that. And the crazy thing was, Fang leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine, wrapping his hands around my waist. He stood up, pulling me up with him. That was when the problem started. He pulled back slightly and looked down at me. For most of our lives we had been the same height, but in the past two years he had shot past me. Now, I was stuck staring at his shoulders. His looped his arms around the small of my back and picked me up. I untucked my wings a little bit, feeling them brush against Fang's strong arms, and leaned in to kiss him again, remembering the incident at the black beach, and the time when he had kissed the Red-Haired Wonder.

Now I pulled back and he dropped me a little so my feet were resting on the sand. I rested my head against his chest, pulling my arms up so they were in between us as well. "What about the Red-Haired Wonder?" I just needed to know how he felt about that.

He smiled slightly and sighed. "I don't really care about her. I barely know her. I know you, so that makes you special." And before I was allowed to say anything else, he kissed me again.

**A/N: R & R please and I will love you forever! The next chapter will be up soon, I hope.**


	2. Headache

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That's James Patterson's job**

**A/N: I'm glad I finally thought up a title for this fan fic, but I actually might change it later, as I get further into my story. I hope you like this next chapter!!!**

After that second kiss (you know, the first one being at the beach and all, except that one was sort of embarrassing) I kind of felt different toward Fang. Yeah, I know, we've been friends for so long and such. For me, and Im thinking Fang as well, things were going to be different.

We couldn't tell the rest of the flock though, I just knew we couldn't. The Gasman and Iggy would laugh, just like they usually do. Angel would think it was sweet, but I still wasn't going to tell her, even if she can read minds. I'm not so sure about Nudge though; I have no idea how she would react. And then there's Total; yeah, he may be a dog, but he can still talk, and, like Gazzy and Iggy would do, I bet he would laugh as well, in his own doggy way.

So, in the end, Fang and I kept it a secret. Sure we were on the run, but that didn't mean we couldn't kiss. Oh, the luxuries of sharing a room at motels. Yup, I know, that doesn't sound like Max, but what the heck. This is the new and improved Max, well, except for the fact that I still have a little (maybe not little) _Voice_ in my head!!! At least my Voice is helpful sometimes.

"Maaaaaaaaaaax!" Nudge complained as we flew through the sky. We had been flying for about an hour now, and at least ten minutes into our little expedition, Nudge was complaining already. I had dealt with it for the last fifty or so minutes, but now my patience was wearing a little thin.

Calm down, Max.

Oh, shut up Voice!

I balled my hands into fists, my left arm straining a little bit, still sore from my last cutting extravaganza (wow, long word). Now that giant cut was just a giant scab, only having healed a little bit, the skin not yet really reparing itself. I swear that if any Erasers pop up behind me, I'll fail because of this cut. Now I know not to do that anymore, although I thought I knew that the first time when Fang made my promise not to scare him like that. Oh, well.

Now, I knew I would keep that promise, even if it was a little late.

As if reading my thoughts, Fang glided up next to me, his giant wings, glinting almost purple in the sunlight, slightly overlapping mine on the down-strokes. "Hey," he said silently, and I could tell he was mulling our last kiss over, taking a little time for it to really seep in like, _Wow, I actually kissed Max of my own free will. I mean, c'mon, its not like I have a little Voice in my head telling me to do that, and yeah, it was nice._ Actually, I wonder if does have a Voice in my head, although if he did, he would probably tell me.

"Hey," I replied a little shyly. If this had been the old Fang, he would have laughed at how softly I had spoken, but since this is the new Fang, he didn't. Then I saw his face, and I knew something was up. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head slightly, so that only I could see how much he moved it. "I've just been thinking…" He drifted off with his words and his wings, but I could tell he was thinking about us, just like I was.

Like I've said before, everything seemed so different now, as if the air changed, even in the sky. I know, I'm not the sappiest person in the world.

I also seem very mellow now, don't I?

**A/N: R & R please and I will love you forever! The next chapter will be up soon, I hope. And yeah, I know this chapter is a short one, but more on this story is coming soon!!!**


	3. The Ocean

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That's James Patterson's job **

**A/N: Just R & R please even if you don't like it!!!**

About an hour later, we arrived at our destination, except we hadn't landed yet. Fang flew silently beside me, Nudge right behind, still complaining, still hungry.

And then it hit; it felt like my head was going to explode into a bazillion pieces, and I held my head in my hands, closing my eyes and wishing I could just die, right then. My wings pulled tight against my body against my will. I started to fall, and I mean _fast_. I cant believe this was happening again. Why here? Why now? I thought they had stopped already. I thought that my Voice had settled in and they had stopped, stopped, stopped!

I fell for what seemed like forever. And once again strong hands were lifting me from my fall, squishing my wings in between me and him, but I knew at once who it was. Even without my super speed, Fang was able to catch me. Just in time to, for we landed only seconds later. I hadn't actually realized I was this close to hitting the ground.

But when we landed, Fang had to wobble into a run a little bit to keep from falling. He may not be super fast, but he was fast enough to catch me.

Fang dropped me onto the grass and propped my head up in his lap, so, when I could finally open my eyes even to the smallest slits, I was staring at his face upside-down. I smiled slightly and he kissed me, just like a breath of wind. I guess this is what get for kissing the strong-and-silent type. But at least it was Fang.

Iggy and the rest of the Flock silently flew in soon after me and Fang landed. I pulled myself upright so I could see them all and shook my head slightly. But that was the last thing I remember before I feel asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I woke up, it was dark, the moon the only light around. The grass I was resting on stirred around me. I pulled myself up but fell with a _thunk_ when I realized Fang was no longer with me. I guess he felt too much like my brother – which he has been since the School – to be around me while I slept.

But I was wrong. At a rock only a couple feet from my head, Fang was rested, his head scanning slowly across the lawn, just like cops do on television shows. When he saw me awake, he flashed me one of his rare smiles and tilted his head meaning, _this way_.

I got up silently and followed him out of the grassy clearing onto what seemed like a small, remote beach. Fang plopped himself onto the sand, still sort of wet from a previous rainfall, and patted the ground next to him. I sat next to him, and he put his arm around me, pulling my close. And at that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second time I woke up that night, my head was still on Fang's shoulder, his head rested on mine. Trying to move as silently as possible so I didn't wake up Fang, I crept from his and started walking down the small stretch of beach.

When I decided that no one was watching me, I unfurled my wings and flew up into the morning sky, the dim morning sun warming my wings. Within a moment of flying, I poured on my newly found super-fast-flying power – and man did it feel good – and soared through the sky, moving at a steady two hundred and twenty miles an hour. I pushed myself faster and faster until I could feel my energy running quickly out.

A good one hundred miles over the ocean, I decided I should started heading back, so I turned and flew in the direction of the beach. I loved the feeling of flying, especially here around the ocean. Birds flew in from miles around me, and although the salty sea air made me want to gag, I loved it all the same. Here, I could swim for hours, even if it was cold, but I didn't care. The air above the ocean was clear, plenty of open air to fly around in, even at the top of the water. I could just reach down sideways, and the tip of my wing could brush against the water, just how I always loved it.

Not even a half of a mile away from the beach – and Fang – another headache hit, this time not as bad. But it was enough to drop me from the sky. I splashed into the water, and sank until I was sitting on the sandy bottom, the undertow slowly pulling my farther out. I knew I couldn't breathe right now. I just wanted to die, die, _die_!!! I held my head in my hands, my temple throbbing, and slowly breathed in the briny water, coughing up all of it.

**A/N: R & R please and I will love you forever! The next chapter will be up soon, I hope.**


	4. Almost Death

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That's James Patterson's job **

**A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews!!! And because of that, I shall continue. Just R & R please!!!**

I swear I must be the luckiest girl in the world. Not only did I almost drown to death – losing my breath and all that, but this was the longest headache _ever_ in the history of headaches. I bet death would feel so good right now. Let's just get Max II over here and have her kill me. I bet she would like that; either that, or Ari. Nah, not Ari. He'd love it too much.

I could feel the air slowly start to leak from my lungs until I felt completely empty.

I started crying, which, I must say, is actually possible in the water. Tears seemed to pour down my face while I cried, mixing with the sea water around them.

And then I knew I had fainted.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was a little surprised when I actually woke up, thinking I was going to die on my Flock, die on the world, which, my Voice just had to _keep_ reminding me, that I was supposed to save. I woke up looking in to Fang's eyes upside down. He leaned down and kissed me, long and passionate – oh, what a kiss. And then I really knew I was still living, for this could only happen to me alive.

I heard snickering around me and turned my head slightly to the right. There, in living, breathing person, was the Gasman, Angel, Nudge, and Iggy. Gazzy, of course, was the one laughing a little, Iggy hadn't seen it, and I'm guessing Angel and Nudge thought it was sweat.

Oh, if only they knew.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, once again, Fang led me down toward the beach while everyone else slept. We sat on the beach again, but before he could say one word, I leaned over and kissed him, deep and long, something I had wanted to do for a long time. Yup, that's me, lovergirl Maximum Ride. I smiled at myself for thinking that, then pulled back and rested my head on Fang's shoulder.

I was about to say 'thanks' when Fang said it for me. I pulled my head back from him and looked into his eyes. "Why?" I asked with deep concern. I knew Fang wasn't the most sappy guy I knew, but neither was I, and here we were saying 'thank you' to each other and kissing. Wow, how so much could change us.

"For not dying," he answered sweetly, and I knew I was thankful for that too.

"I'm glad I didn't die. But you saved me, so shouldn't I be the one thanking you?" I laughed lightly, and rested my head against his shoulder again, just the way I liked.

"True." He pushed my head up with his finger and kissed me gently, like a breath of wind, silent and strong, just like Fang himself. "What happened anyway?"

"My stupid headaches. I mean, weren't they gone? I thought my Voice had moved in already. Hm…" I sighed and thought for a moment. "Maybe the Voice was already moving out or something."

"Maybe, maybe not, I don't know." He smiled at me, and kissed me again, rolling on top of me in the sand.

I kissed him just like I wanted to – still, he's like my brother, but I guess the feeling just came out – and wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his arms work themselves around my back.

I could feel his tongue lick across my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth to allow him entrance. His tongue swept through my mouth, and I knew that that brother like feeling was slowly dissolving.

I switched positions, Fang below me now and kissed him harder, pressing my mouth against him harder, only breaking apart him for air. My blond hair fell into my eyes and Fang swept it back behind my ear with one of his fingers. I hoped tonight would last forever.

**A/N: R & R please and if you give me good reviews – truthful, good reviews I mean – I shall continue. If that happens, the next chapter should be up as soon as possible.**


	5. Morning

**A/N: Okay, guys. I am so sorry this chapter took so long to be up, but I just haven't had time to write it. But here it is, and I hope you like it. smiles**

I woke up, my head nestled on Fang's chest and shook my head, trying to clear away all bad thoughts. I had a dream, and it wasn't the best I must say. And this dream had to do with Ari, oh God.

Luckily I haven't seen him lately.

I opened my eyes a crack and looked out onto the ocean, remembering the night before; how I almost drowned, how Fang saved me, how we kissed until we fell asleep. I looked down at myself, glad I was still wearing my clothes. Luckily we hadn't gotten that far yet.

I stood up, leaving Fang in the sand, and walked over to the area where the rest of my flock was sleeping. Total ran up to my, barking softly, and shook out his fur.

"Man, humans can sleep so long," he moaned before walking away to the water. Great, he still can talk.

I shook Angel softly until she opened her eyes. "Honey," I started, "time to get up. We gotta go. Get the rest of 'em up, please." When Angel had nodded, signaling she understood, I walked back over to Fang, who was slowly starting to arise.

"Hey, sleepyhead," I said, kicking him lightly in the arm. "Get up." Then I opened my wings, and soared into the sky, keeping close to the shoreline this time, just in case.

My, God, the sun over the ocean was beautiful in the morning. I stretched out my hands in front of my face, like Superman, feeling the sun warming my feathers. Now I'm glad I never was a normal child.

Soon, I turned back to see Fang heading my way. I smiled as he approached.

"You left without me?" he asked, and looked as if he were going to laugh as he soared up higher.

I grinned to see him. "At least now I won't have to worry about drowning again." This time, he really did smile and swerved closer to me, the end of his wing slightly grazing mine as we flew out over the ocean.

In the distance, we could see a dolphin jump from the water, then a stream of water blown from the top of a whale. I laughed as I saw Fang take a gulp of sea water, puff up his cheeks, then spit it out, the saddest imitation of a whale I have ever seen. I signaled to him to get back. I knew the flock, especially Nudge, would be hungry by now.

**A/N: Yeah, I know, a short chapter, but like I said, I don't have that much time right now. Hopefully I'll get more time soon, so I can add more chapters. R & R, and I'll add a new chapter as soon as I can, and I mean it.**


	6. Without Wings

**A/N: The results for the poll:**

**Love comes first: 19 votes**

**Flying is the best: 4 votes**

**Thank you for your feedback. And here is the next chapter ;-)**

I was running through the undergrowth of the forest. Erasers were chasing my, but it wasn't like I could fly away from them; I didn't have my wings. What a disaster!

_Maximum…_ the Voice started, but I wasn't paying attention. Who wants to pay attention to a little Voice in their head when they're running away from the most dangerous things on the planet? Certainly not me...

I dropped fast into the sand when my legs wiped out on me. I wasn't a human-avian hybrid anymore, I realized, my muscles couldn't take this kind of strain. But if I wasn't one, why did I still have the Voice in my head? I didn't know.

But what about Fang? The rest of the Flock? Oh, no. What if I never was a hybrid like the rest of them were? What if they didn't remember me? Does that mean that the Erasers didn't want me anymore?

I decided that that was the case; the Erasers probably weren't after me. They might be after Fang or the rest of the Flock. Maybe someone else? I could feel my heart racing in my head, my lungs sucking oxygen out of the air.

Then, a moment later, I was being lifted off the ground by strong arms. I didn't know who it was, but the arms didn't feel hairy like an Eraser's. I decided this wasn't a bad guy. I closed my eyes before figuring out who it was, and let myself be carried away from the half-wolves.

And then we were in the air. My Flock. I finally opened my eyes only to see Fang's dark ones staring into mine. Did he remember me?

"Fang?" I whispered, still out of breath. I wanted to see if he still knew me. I wasn't sure what he was going to answer now.

"Do I know you…?" he started, but I leaned my head up and kissed him full on the lips. Maybe this would help.

For a moment, Fang resisted. Then he kissed me back, a long, serious kiss. When he pulled away his cheeks were flushed from the airless kiss.

"Max?" he whispered, before I woke up.

**A/N: Finally, I got another chapter up! I am so proud of myself. Anyway, please review for future chapters. :-)**


	7. Haircut

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter up, one that you have been waiting for! Please review.**

**P.S. Remember, this was before the 3****rd**** book came out, so there are no spoilers.**

The skies were amazing. It had been clearer up here yesterday, as if Mother Nature sensed my happiness, and decided to give us some clear flying. I just hoped that no one saw us from below. That would be a big problem.

My arm was still sore from the beach, but it had healed already, now just a red gash over the other red gash. Woop-tee-doo.

It felt so good to be flying up here with my flock. The wind streaked my hair back, and I knew I needed to get a new haircut soon; my old New York haircut had grown out and strands of hair were flapping in my face. I looked over at Fang, his face looking calm – for Fang – and noticed the big chuck of hair that had been left long was flapping in his eyes as well. I scanned the land below, focusing on one patch of green, then another, until I saw a large building that looked like a mall.

There was sure to be a hair-care place there.

I glided over to where Fang flew, brushing my wing against his. He looked at me and I pointed downward. He nodded and motioned to the rest of our group, and down we headed.

We landed several miles away in a large group of trees. Quickly, we wrapped out windbreakers around us, and started the hike.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another half an hour later, we burst out of the trees into a large parking lot filled with a few cars and trucks and even a tractor trailer. We entered the mall and trotted to a map. There was a small place called You-Do nearby, so that was where we were headed.

The appointment didn't take long. So far, You-Do had had no customers for the day, and they still had three people working. The boys went first, and then us girls.

When we had finished, Gazzy and Iggy's faded-colored ends had been chopped off, and their hair was cut so it was a single inch long. Fang still had the chunk of hair in the front, but it wasn't as menacing now. Nudge's immensely curly hair had been straightened and cropped short, framing her face with soon-to-curl-again layers. Angel's sweet little 'do' had been trimmed, and the sweet lady had braided it back. My own hair had been trimmed and layered again so no wispy pieces stick at my lips. It tossed lightly around my face as I paid and we walked out.

Much better.

**A/N: I know, it was short and boring. More to be coming soon, I promise :-) And in the next chapter I also promise will be some FAX.**


End file.
